Rod + Thomas = Y
Apparently I’m of “Generation Y”. This means I’m a geeky yuppie born after 1979. Yeah – can’t complain with that. It also means I lived through the 80s, but being brought up in Hong Kong I missed out on all the psychedelic British kids TV. Rod Thomas clearly got a fair dose as his video...
Adventurers Eat Vintage Skunks
Is anyone else becoming addicted to Born Survivor with Bear Grylls? He eats caterpillars and cuts the heads off skunks. Double hard. I’ll never be that adventurous, but I’m always up for New Adventures. Especially ones destined to fill arenas around the world. The four men of New Adventures began playing together at university, but...
Oasis Defeated by Serbian Sousaphone
Serbia’s music has had a strange journey to holeytonal – beginning in Lebanon, via Brooklyn and Hammersmith. Well it didn’t strictly start in Lebanon, but I fell in love with Gulag Orkester, Beirut‘s debut album. I was completely lost in Balkan brass and indie fusion for a year. Excitedly I introduced Beirut to my Serbian...
The Dawn of Prunge
Remember when you listened to the album that changed your life for the first time? It give you goosebumps and made you shiver like you’ve just been possessed – you maybe even wanted to cry? I haven’t had that feeling since listening to OK Computer, but Wrecking Ball by Dead Confederate certainly came close. Since...
He’ll Walk Alone – He’s Not From Liverpool
There’s not much music I don’t like, but grime? Hmm, still not convinced. One of the only commercially successful alternatives in British hip hop has been Mike Skinner (aka The Streets) but he’s not the only Brit producing hip hop that ain’t grime. Birmingham, Skinner’s home town, seems to be a hot bed of talented...
Kids Love Lies, Not the Messiah
My colleagues think I lie. They don’t believe I was in Casino Royale. Maybe it shows I have a problem – that despite my recent 25th I’m still just a kid. I’d hope so anyway. Kids Love Lies – and these kids also love to fuzzy guitar your ears to heaven. Praise the lord for...
Chewing 8-bit Lips
“Why don’t you post about female artists?” my friend asks. Well I have actually, when I rung about the glorious Bell. Gender, two genders or no gender – I don’t care so long as their music rings true. So, the fact that holeytonal features more male artists, or bands with male leads, is not the reason for posting...
The Crown Jewels of Australia
Isn’t it awful asking to hear someone’s music, only to feel like you’re bleaching your ears? To my great relief James Marple’s music was more like a gentle clean. Under the pseudonym James and The Jewellery Store, Marples weaves burlesque lined tracks with lyrics encompassing “the courtly-love of the Romantic poets to the dust bowls...
Chorus of Birdmen Grow Brutal Fins
Spontaneity rocks. I read a blog post, featuring a shop, featuring a band, went to the shop, watched the band then wasted money on CDs. Damn! It costs too. At least it doesn’t waste my time. The Brute Chorus were worth it. Well worth it. These East London blues punk rockers are on the verge...
Revere
August 2007 was a long time ago, but I still have vivid memories watching Revere at the now defunct Spitz. Severely impressed, I departed expecting Revere to make it big in 2008. But, despite being lauded by the Guardian as ‘one of the best bands you’ve never heard of’, they’re still largely unknown. Despite featuring...
Lovely Bowl of Luke
Fear flashes across my face when the often tiresome pair of singer with acoustic guitar walk to the stage. At Insideout in Kingston, I couldn’t have been more scared when the singer introduced himself saying he’s ill and might collapse half way through his set. How I trembled. Then he played. He sang. The world...
Through the Peephole
Anyone got a ticket to Brooklyn? I need to go. I can’t take it anymore. I have to find out how so much good music can come from one place. Here is yet another great group from the Big Apple. I peeped Peephole through Bell’s MySpace. Glad I did. Their main man is called Kent...
